Report: Red Sox Rival Signing Veteran Pitcher After Releasing All-Star

The New York Yankees are scrambling for answers to help their reeling starting rotation.

New York slipped behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East standings over the weekend, losing three games to their division rivals in as many days. While the Red Sox swept the Houston Astros, the Yankees got swept by the Miami Marlins in a series starting with a stunning 13-12 loss.

Despite losing Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt to season-ending injuries, the Yankees released Marcus Stroman on Friday. They’re reportedly landing a possible replacement.

MLB.com’s Yuki Yamada reported Sunday that Kenta Maeda will sign a minor league contract with the Yankees after opting out of his deal with the Chicago Cubs’ Triple-A Iowa affiliate. Maeda appeared to confirm the news in Instagram stories, including a farewell to his short-lived organization.

“It was a meaningful chapter in my career,” Maeda wrote, “and I’ll always appreciate the people who were part of it!”

Maeda followed a successful professional career in Japan by posting a 3.87 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He finished second in the 2020 American League Cy Young Award voting when registering a 2.70 ERA in the pandemic-shortened season for the Minnesota Twins.

However, Maeda hasn’t looked the same since returning from a Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2022 season. He offered a respectable 4.23 ERA in 2023 but surrendered 22 home runs and a 6.09 ERA for the Detroit Tigers last season.

Detroit released Maeda in May after he allowed eight runs in eight innings from the bullpen. The 36-year-old surrendered a 6.12 ERA in a dozen starts for the Iowa Cubs, uncharacteristically issuing 25 walks in 57 1/3 innings.

Maeda may be a long shot to help a big league team much more than Stroman, who allowed four runs in his last start for the Yankees on Thursday. They released the two-time All-Star before welcoming Luis Gil off the injured list to make his season debut Sunday.

The Yankees considerably bolstered their bullpen before the trade deadline, but the rotation may need more help if they don’t get solid innings from Gil, Wil Warren and Cam Schlittler.